Suspension load beam rail base gimbal limiter

Abstract

To provide a head gimbal assembly (HGA) that limits flexure displacement, thereby increasing resistance and admissibility of an HDD to mechanical shock events.SOLUTION: An HGA 300, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), includes a road beam 304 formed with a flat deck portion 304d and side rail portions 304r extending away from each lateral edge of the deck portion in a direction away from a corresponding flexure 302, wherein each side rail portion includes a limiter structure 304l extending from the side rail in a direction toward the flexure, and the limiter structure includes a hooking portion that has a limiter gap g between the flexure and the load beam and is disposed on a distal side of the flexure for limiting the displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam. As an integral part of the load beam, the limiter structure does not adversely affect the dynamic performance of existing gimbal structures designed to enable high areal density HDDs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3A

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to hard disk drives, and more particularly, may relate to a gimbal limiter for a load beam side rail of a suspension assembly.

Background Art

[0002] A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile memory device that stores digitally encoded data on one or more circular disks having a magnetic surface, enclosed within a protective enclosure. When the HDD is operating, each magnetic recording disk is rapidly rotated by a spindle system. Data is read from and written to the magnetic recording disk using a read-write head (or “transducer”) positioned over a specific location on the disk by an actuator. The read-write head uses a magnetic field to write data to and read data from the surface of the magnetic recording disk. The write head functions by generating a magnetic field using an electric current flowing through a coil of the write head. Electric pulses are sent to the write head with different patterns of positive and negative currents. The current in the coil of the write head generates a local magnetic field across the gap between the head and the magnetic disk, which then magnetizes a small area on the recording medium.

[0003] The HDD includes at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA), and the HGA generally includes a slider that houses a read / write transducer (or “head”) and a suspension. Each slider is attached to the free end of the suspension, and the suspension is cantilevered from the rigid arm of an actuator. A combination of several actuator arms can form a single movable unit, typically a head stack assembly (HSA) having a rotary pivot bearing system. The suspension of a conventional HDD typically includes a relatively rigid load beam having a mount plate at its proximal end, the mount plate being attached to the actuator arm, and the free end of the actuator arm carrying a flexure (or “gimbal” or “gimbal flexure”) that supports the slider and its read / write head. A “hinge” that is flexible in the vertical bending direction (perpendicular to the disk surface) is effectively disposed between the mount plate and the functional end of the load beam. The hinge enables the load beam to suspend and place the slider and the read / write head toward the rotating disk surface. Next, the function of the flexure is to provide gimbal support to the slider so that the slider can pitch (tilt forward and backward) and roll (tilt left and right) to adjust its orientation. However, the end-user specifications and / or common design and operational constraints include operational shock (or “op-shock”) and non-operational shock (or “non-op shock”) requirements, which are generally related to the tolerance or acceptability of the HDD to mechanical shock events during operation and non-operation, respectively.

[0004] Any technique that may be described in this section is a technique that can be pursued but is not necessarily a technique that has been previously devised or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, none of the techniques described in this section should be assumed to be eligible as prior art solely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] The embodiments are shown by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, and like reference numerals refer to like elements.

Figure 1

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Figure 3A

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Figure 4A

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Figure 4D

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Figure 6

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0006] Overall, an approach to a gimbal limiter of a suspension load beam rail base for a hard disk drive (HDD) is described. In the following specification, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention described herein. However, it will be apparent that the embodiments of the invention described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments of the invention described herein.

[0007] Introduction Terms References to "embodiments", "one embodiment", etc. in this specification are intended to mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. However, instances of such phrases do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

[0008] The term "substantially" is understood to describe features that are mostly or nearly structured, configured, dimensioned, etc., but manufacturing tolerances and the like can result in situations where structures, configurations, dimensions, etc. are not always or necessarily precisely described. For example, if a structure is described as "substantially vertical", the sidewalls are vertical for all practical purposes but may not be exactly 90 degrees, and that clear meaning is assigned to the term.

[0009] Terms such as "optimal", "optimize", "minimum", "minimize", "maximum", "maximize", etc. may not have a specific value associated therewith, but when such terms are used in this specification, one of ordinary skill in the art is intended to understand that such terms include affecting values, parameters, metrics, etc. in a beneficial direction consistent with the overall disclosure. For example, describing something as "minimum" does not require that the value actually be equal to the theoretical minimum value (e.g., zero), but should be understood in a practical sense in that the corresponding goal is to move the value in a beneficial direction towards the theoretical minimum value.

[0010] Context Increasing the storage capacity of a hard disk drive (HDD) is one of the ongoing goals of HDD technology evolution. In one form, this goal manifests as increasing the number of disks incorporated therein. However, in many cases, customer requirements call for maintaining a standard form factor such that the HDD's z-height is partially characterized. This essentially poses a challenge regarding fitting more disks within a given device. It is to be recalled that a suspension typically includes a relatively rigid load beam that mounts at its free end a gimbal flexure that carries the slider and its read / write head. Thus, the goal remains to increase the number of disks while maintaining a standard form factor that reduces the distance between each disk in the disk stack, and at the same time reliably meet the operational shock requirements and non-operational shock requirements. For example, the non-operational shock requirements are typically several hundred times that of gravity (g), while the flexure is intentionally movably / gimbal-mounted to the load beam. Thus, restricting the displacement of the flexure and the slider in response to a shock event while maintaining excellent gimbal dynamic performance presents an important challenge.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a head gimbal assembly having a limiter outrigger structure. A head gimbal assembly (HGA) 200 includes a flexure 202 movably coupled to a load beam 204. The HGA 200, particularly the flexure 202, includes a tongue 202t region to which a slider 206 is attached, and optionally a set of piezoelectric (PZT) micro actuators (not shown) and associated mechanisms. Thus, there is little or no room in this region for conventional gimbal limiters such as T-bar limiters, Z-limiters, or merged limiters, and implementing a conventional limiter would result in degradation of the current gimbal dynamic performance. Next, one approach involves using a limiter outrigger structure, i.e., a limiter 202l, along with the flexure 202 (e.g., stainless steel) for the purpose of increasing rigidity. Thus, the limiter 202l acts as a displacement / slider rear-end pitching reinforcement and contributes to limiting the displacement / pitching of the tongue 202t when it can extend during an impact event. However, even when using a limiter structure such as the polyimide limiter 202l, significantly undesirable displacement of the slider 206 may still be observed, at least in part due to the flexibility of the polyimide and resulting plastic deformation under non-operating impacts. Without the limiter 202l, the displacement of the slider 206 and the deformation of the flexure 202 would be even greater.

[0012] Load beam side rail base gimbal limiter Both according to one embodiment, FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a head gimbal assembly having a limiter structure of a suspension load beam rail base, FIG. 3B is a perspective view showing the limiter structure of the suspension load beam rail base of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is a top view showing the limiter structure of the suspension load beam rail base of FIG. 3A.

[0013] A hard disk drive head gimbal assembly (HGA) 300 includes a flexure 302 movably coupled to a load beam 304, and the load beam 304 and the flexure 302 may be collectively referred to as a suspension. The HGA 300, particularly the flexure 302, includes a tongue 302t region to which a slider 306 is attached, and in some cases, a set of piezoelectric (PZT) micro actuators (not shown), and associated mechanisms. The load beam 304 includes a substantially flat deck portion 304d (or simply "deck") and side rail portions 304r (or simply "side rails") extending away from the flexure 302 from each edge of the deck portion 304d. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 304r of the load beam 304 includes a limiter structure 304l (or simply "limiter 304l") extending from the side rail portion 304r in a direction toward the flexure 302, and the limiter structure 304l has a hooking portion 304l-a (or "arm extension 304l-a") disposed on the distal side of the flexure 302 to limit displacement of the flexure 302 in a direction away from the load beam 304. According to one embodiment, the HGA 300 has a certain (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap (g) between the hooking portion 304l-a of the limiter 304l of the load beam 304 and the flexure 302. Thus, the limiter gap g actually defines the maximum displacement mechanically allowed for the flexure 302 in a direction away from the load beam 304, which is because the limiter 304l catches around a part of the flexure 302, thereby physically and structurally restricting the relative movement between the flexure 302 (e.g., its plastic deformation) and the load beam 304 in this region.

[0014] In particular, the hooking portion 304l-a is located outside the flexure tang 302 with respect to the flexure 302, i.e., in a mechanically and functionally dense area where the head slider 306 (as well as a micro actuator (not shown) and related mechanisms (if any)) is attached. Further, this arrangement places the hooking portion 304l-a with respect to the flexure 302 in the gimbal portion of the flexure 302. Although not visible here, the load beam 304 further includes gimbal dimples (see, for example, gimbal dimples 404g, 504g in FIGS. 4B, 4D, 5A), whereby the flexure 302 is movably coupled (i.e., gimbal supported) to the load beam 304 via the dimples and has a degree of freedom of rotation about the corresponding dimple axis. Thus, the limiter 304l limits the displacement in the z-direction (e.g., generally considered the vertical direction) between the flexure 302 and the load beam 304 while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure 302 and the corresponding slider 306 with respect to the load beam 304 for operational purposes. Further, the hooking portion 304l-a of each limiter 304l is disposed substantially coincident with / in line with the center of mass of the slider, e.g., coincident with / in line with the dimple about which the flexure 302-slider 306 gimbal moves, thereby providing optimal effectiveness of such a limiter 304l. Further, as an integral part of the load beam 304, the limiter 304l is designed to enable a high areal density (a measure of the amount of information bits that can be stored in a given area of the disk surface) HDD without degrading the dynamic performance of existing gimbals.

[0015] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 304l includes a proximal portion 304l-p extending directly from a corresponding side rail portion 304r of the load beam 304, and a hooking portion 304l-a extending from the proximal portion 304l-p. According to one embodiment, referring to FIGS. 3A-3C, most of the proximal portion 304l-p extends substantially perpendicular to the deck portion 304d of the load beam 304, and the hooking portion 304l-a extends substantially parallel to the deck portion 304d.

[0016] Note that the exact shape of the limiter structure 304l of the load beam 304 may vary depending on the implementation form based on, for example, mechanical configurations and constraints, various design goals, etc. In order to facilitate ease of manufacturing, limiter structures of different shapes may be implemented. For example, a limiter structure configured and / or bent in such a way as to lift and / or bend the tip end of the hooking portion of the limiter structure (see, for example, the limiter structure 404l in FIGS. 4A to 4D and the limiter structure 504l in FIGS. 5A to 5B) can enable easier manufacturing assembly of the flexure and the load beam by, for example, making it easier to insert or slide the flexure under the hooking portion of the limiter structure of the load beam side rail.

[0017] All according to one embodiment, FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing a head gimbal assembly having a suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure, FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A, FIG. 4C is a top view showing the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4D is a side view showing the suspension load beam rail-based limiter structure of FIG. 4A.

[0018] The hard disk drive head gimbal assembly (HGA) 400 includes a flexure 402 movably coupled to a load beam 404, and the load beam 404 and the flexure 402 may be collectively referred to as a suspension. The HGA 400, particularly the flexure 402, includes a tongue 402t region to which a slider 406 is attached, and in some cases, a set of piezoelectric (PZT) micro actuators (not shown), and associated mechanisms. The load beam 404 includes a substantially flat deck portion 404d (or simply "deck") and side rail portions 404r (or simply "side rails") extending away from the flexure 402 from each edge of the deck portion 404d. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 404r of the load beam 404 includes a limiter structure 404l (or simply "limiter 404l") extending from the side rail portion 404r in a direction toward the flexure 402, and the limiter structure 404l has a hooking portion 404l-a (or "arm extension 404l-a") disposed on the distal side of the flexure 402 to limit displacement of the flexure 402 in a direction away from the load beam 404. According to one embodiment, the HGA 400 has a certain (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap (g) between the hooking portion 404l-a of the limiter 404l of the load beam 404 and the flexure 402 (see, e.g., FIG. 4D). Thus, the limiter gap g actually defines the maximum displacement mechanically allowed for the flexure 402 in a direction away from the load beam 404, which is because the limiter 404l catches around a part of the flexure 402, thereby physically and structurally restricting relative movement between the flexure 402 (e.g., its plastic deformation) and the load beam 404 in this region.

[0019] In particular, here too, the hooking portion 404l-a is located outside the flexure tang 402 with respect to the flexure 402, i.e., in a mechanically and functionally dense area where the head slider 406 (as well as a micro actuator (not shown) and related mechanisms (if any)) is attached. Further, this arrangement places the hooking portion 404l-a with respect to the flexure 402 in the gimbal portion of the flexure 402. The load beam 404 further includes a gimbal dimple 404g, whereby the flexure 402 is movably coupled (i.e., gimbal supported) to the load beam 404 via the dimple 404g and has a degree of freedom of rotation about the corresponding dimple axis. Accordingly, the limiter 404l limits the z-direction displacement between the flexure 402 and the load beam 404 while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure 402 and the corresponding slider 406 with respect to the load beam 404 for operating purposes. Further, the hooking portion 404l-a of each limiter 404l is disposed substantially coincident with / aligned with the center of mass of the slider, e.g., coincident with / aligned with the dimple 404g about which the flexure 402-slider 406 is gimbal supported, thereby providing optimal effectiveness of such a limiter 404l. Further, as an integral part of the load beam 404, the limiter 404l is designed to enable a high areal density (a measure of the amount of information bits that can be stored in a given area of the disk surface) HDD without degrading the dynamic performance of the existing gimbal.

[0020] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 404l includes a proximal portion 404l-p that extends directly from a corresponding side rail portion 404r of the load beam 404, and a hooking portion 404l-a that extends from the proximal portion 404l-p. According to one embodiment, referring to FIGS. 4A-4D, the proximal portion 404l-p first extends from the corresponding side rail portion 404r in a direction within the plane of the side rail portion 404r along the major axis of the side rail portion 404r, and the adjacent substantially C-shaped section 404l-c (e.g., the hooking portion) bends outwardly from the plane of the side rail portion 404r.

[0021] All according to one embodiment, FIG. 5A is a top view showing a limiter structure of a suspension load beam rail base, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing the limiter structure of the suspension load beam rail base of FIG. 5A. The load beam 504 includes a substantially flat deck portion 504d (or simply "deck") and side rail portions 504r (or simply "side rails") that extend away from each edge of the deck portion 504d and, in the assembled form, extend in a direction away from the corresponding flexure. According to one embodiment, each side rail portion 504r of the load beam 504 includes a limiter structure 504l (or simply "limiter 504l") that extends from the side rail portion 504r in a direction opposite to the direction in which the side rail portion 504r extends, i.e., toward the corresponding flexure, and the limiter structure 504l has a hooking portion 504l-a (or "arm extension 504l-a") disposed on the distal side of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure in a direction away from the load beam 504 (see, e.g., the similar scenarios of FIGS. 3A, 3C, 4A, 4C-4D). According to one embodiment, the HGA of which the load beam 504 is a part has a specific (e.g., predetermined) limiter gap between the hooking portion 504l-a of the limiter 504l of the load beam 504 and the corresponding flexure. Thus, the limiter gap actually defines the maximum displacement mechanically allowed for the flexure in a direction away from the load beam 504, which is because the limiter 504l catches around a part of the flexure, thereby physically and structurally restricting the relative movement between the flexure and the load beam 504 in this region. The load beam 504 further includes gimbal dimples 504g, whereby the corresponding flexure is movably coupled (i.e., gimbal supported) to the load beam 504 via the dimples 504g and thus has a degree of freedom of rotation about the corresponding dimple axis. Thus, the limiter 504l limits the z-direction displacement between the flexure and the load beam 504 while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure and the corresponding slider with respect to the load beam 504 for operating purposes.Furthermore, the hooking portion 504l-a of each limiter 504l is disposed substantially coincident with / on the same straight line as the center of mass of the slider, for example, coincident with / on the same straight line as the dimple 504g on which the flexure-slider is gimbal-supported, thereby providing optimal effectiveness of such a limiter 504l.

[0022] According to one embodiment, each limiter structure 504l includes a proximal portion 504l-p extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion 504r of the load beam 504, and a hooking portion 504l-a extending from the proximal portion 504l-p. According to one embodiment, referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, most of the proximal portion 504l-p extends from the side rail portion 504r of the load beam 504 at a laterally outward skew angle (deviating from a straight line). More specifically, according to one embodiment, the proximal portion 504l-p first extends from the corresponding side rail portion 504r in a direction towards the flexure within the plane of the side rail portion 504r, and the adjacent portion 504l-pa of the proximal portion 504l-p that connects to the hooking portion 504l-a extends at an angle laterally outward from the plane of the side rail portion 504r.

[0023] Method of assembling a head gimbal assembly FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a method of manufacturing a head gimbal assembly according to one embodiment. The head gimbal assembly (HGA) assembled, manufactured, and produced according to the method of FIG. 6 is designed, configured, and intended to be implemented in a hard disk drive (HDD) (e.g., refer to FIG. 1).

[0024] In block 602, a load beam is formed having a substantially flat deck with openings on each side. For example, the load beams 304 (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404 (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504 (FIGS. 5A-5B) are formed including decks 304d (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404d (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504d (FIGS. 5A-5B) having openings 304o (FIGS. 3A-3C), 404o (FIGS. 4A-4D), 504o (FIGS. 5A-5B) on each side.

[0025] In block 604, side rail portions are formed on each side of the deck, and each side rail portion includes a limiter structure having an arm extension that extends into the opening of the deck. For example, side rail portions are formed on each side of decks 304d, 404d, 504d, and each side rail portion includes limiter structures 304l (Figs. 3A - 3C), 404l (Figs. 4A - 4D), 504l (Figs. 5A - 5B) that include arm extensions 304l-a (Figs. 3B - 3C), 404l-a (Fig. 4B), 504l-a (Fig. 5B) that extend into openings 304o, 404o, 504o of decks 304d, 404d, 504d, respectively.

[0026] In block 606, each side rail portion is bent to form a side rail that extends in a first direction away from the deck, and the limiter structure extends from the corresponding side rail and extends from the opening in a second direction away from the deck. For example, each side rail portion is bent to form side rails 304r (Figs. 3A - 3C), 404r (Figs. 4A - 4D), 504r (Figs. 5A - 5B) that extend in a first direction away from decks 304d, 404d, 504d, and limiter structures 304l, 404l, 504l extend in a second direction away from decks 304d, 404d, 504d and away from corresponding side rails 304r, 404r, 504r and openings 304o, 404o, 504o. Thus, for ease of manufacture, each limiter 304l, 404l, 504l is formed in a desired position by the process of bending the side rail portion to form the side rail.

[0027] At block 608, the flexure is coupled to the second direction side of the load beam, which includes disposing the arm extension on the distal second direction side of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure in a second direction away from the load beam. For example, flexures 302 (Figs. 3A, 3C), 402 (Figs. 4A, 4C - 4D) are coupled to the second direction sides of load beams 304, 404, 504, which includes disposing arm extensions 304l-a, 404l-a, 504l-a on the distal second direction sides of flexures 302, 402 to limit displacement of flexures 302, 402 away from load beams 304, 404, 504 in the second direction.

[0028] Accordingly, considering the embodiments described herein, each limiter structure enables limiting the z-direction displacement between the flexure and the load beam while maintaining the necessary gimbal function of the flexure and the corresponding slider with respect to the load beam for operational purposes.

[0029] Physical Description of an Illustrative Operating Context Embodiments may be used in the context of a digital data storage device (DSD) such as a hard disk drive (HDD). Thus, according to one embodiment, a plan view showing a conventional HDD100 is shown in FIG. 1 to assist in explaining how a conventional HDD typically operates.

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a functional arrangement of components of an HDD 100 including a slider 110b that includes a magnetic read-write head 110a. Collectively, the slider 110b and the head 110a may be referred to as a head slider. The HDD 100 includes at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA) 110 that includes the head slider, a read suspension 110c typically attached to the head slider via a flexure, and a load beam 110d attached to the read suspension 110c. The HDD 100 also includes at least one recording medium 120 rotatably mounted on a spindle 124 and a drive motor (not shown) attached to the spindle 124 for rotating the medium 120. The read-write head 110a, which may also be referred to as a transducer, includes a write element and a read element for writing and reading information stored on the medium 120 of the HDD 100, respectively. The medium 120 or a plurality of disk media may be fixed to the spindle 124 by a disk clamp 128.

[0031] The HDD 100 further includes an arm 132 attached to the HGA 110, a carriage 134, and a voice coil motor (VCM) that includes an armature 136 attached to the carriage 134 and including a voice coil 140 and a stator 144 that includes a voice coil magnet (not shown). The armature 136 of the VCM is attached to the carriage 134 and is configured to move the arm 132 and the HGA 110 to access a portion of the medium 120 and is all mounted on a pivot shaft 148 by an intervening pivot bearing assembly 152. In the case of an HDD having a plurality of disks, the carriage 134 may be referred to as an "E-block" or a comb since the carriage is arranged to carry an array of interlinked arms that give the carriage a comb-like appearance.

[0032] An assembly comprising a flexure coupled with a head slider, an actuator arm (e.g., arm 132) and / or a load beam coupled with the flexure, and an actuator (e.g., VCM) coupled with the actuator arm may be collectively referred to as a head gimbal assembly (e.g., HGA110). However, the HSA may include more or fewer components than those described. For example, the HSA may refer to an assembly that further includes electrical interconnect components. Generally, the HSA is an assembly configured to move a head slider to access a portion of the medium 120 for read and write operations.

[0033] Referring further to FIG. 1, electrical signals (e.g., current to voice coil 140 of the VCM) including a write signal to head 110a and a read signal from head 110a are transmitted by a flexible cable assembly (FCA) 156 (or “flex cable” or “flexible printed circuit” (FPC)). The interconnection between the flex cable 156 and the head 110a may include an arm-electronics (AE) module 160 that may have an on-board preamplifier for the read signal and other read and write channel electronics. The AE module 160 may be attached to the carriage 134 as shown. The flex cable 156 may be coupled in some configurations to an electrical connector block 164 that provides electrical communication through an electrical feedthrough provided by the HDD housing 168. The HDD housing 168 (or “enclosure base” or “base plate” or simply “base”), together with the HDD cover, provides a semi-enclosed (or in some configurations hermetically sealed) protective enclosure for the information storage components of the HDD 100.

[0034] A disk controller including a digital-signal processor (DSP) and other electronic components including servo electronics provide electrical signals to a drive motor, voice coil 140 of a VCM, and head 110a of an HGA 110. The electrical signal provided to the drive motor enables the drive motor to rotate while providing torque to spindle 124, and then the torque is transmitted to medium 120 attached to spindle 124. As a result, medium 120 rotates in direction 172. The rotating medium 120 forms an air cushion that acts as an air bearing on which the air-bearing surface (ABS) of slider 110b rides so that slider 110b floats above the surface of medium 120 without contacting the thin magnetic recording layer on which information is recorded. Similarly, in an HDD where a gas lighter than air, such as helium as a non-limiting example, is utilized, the rotating medium 120 generates a gas cushion that acts as a gas or fluid bearing on which slider 110b rides.

[0035] The electrical signal provided to the voice coil 140 of the VCM enables the head 110a of the HGA 110 to access the track 176 on which information is recorded. Thus, the armature 136 of the VCM swing passing through the arc 180 enables the head 110a of the HGA 110 to access various tracks on the medium 120. Information is stored on the medium 120 within a plurality of concentric tracks arranged radially on the medium 120, such as in sectors 184. Correspondingly, each track is composed of a plurality of sectored track portions (or "track sectors"), such as the sectored track portion 188. Each sectored track portion 188 may include a header containing a servo burst signal pattern, such as the ABCD servo burst signal pattern, which is the recorded information, error correction code information, and information for identifying the track 176. When accessing the track 176, the read element of the head 110a of the HGA 110 reads the servo burst signal pattern, which provides a position-error-signal (PES) to the servo electronics, and the servo electronics controls the electrical signal provided to the voice coil 140 of the VCM to enable the head 110a to follow the track 176. After finding the track 176 and identifying a specific sectored track portion 188, the head 110a reads information from the track 176 or writes information to the track 176 in response to instructions received by the disk controller from an external agent, such as the microprocessor of a computer system.

[0036] The electronic architecture of an HDD includes a number of electronic components for performing their respective functions for the operation of the HDD, such as a hard disk controller (HDC), an interface controller, an arm electronic module, a data channel, a motor driver, a servo processor, and a buffer memory. Two or more of such components may be combined on a single integrated circuit board referred to as a "system on a chip" (SOC). Some, but not all, of such electronic components are typically disposed on a printed circuit board coupled to the bottom side of the HDD, such as the HDD housing 168.

[0037] References in this specification to hard disk drives, such as the HDD 100 shown and described with reference to FIG. 1, may include information storage devices sometimes referred to as "hybrid drives". A hybrid drive generally refers to a storage device having the functions of both a conventional HDD (e.g., refer to HDD 100) combined with a solid-state storage device (SSD) that uses non-volatile memory such as flash memory or other solid-state (e.g., integrated circuit) memory that is electrically erasable and programmable. Since the operation, management, and control of different types of storage media are usually different, the solid-state portion of a hybrid drive may include its own corresponding controller function, and the controller function may be integrated into a single controller along with the HDD function. A hybrid drive may be designed and configured to operate and utilize the solid-state portion in several ways, such as using the solid-state memory as cache memory for storing frequently accessed data, storing I / O-intensive data, etc. Further, a hybrid drive may be designed and configured essentially as two storage devices in a single enclosure, namely a conventional HDD and an SSD, with any of one or more interfaces for host connection.

[0038] Extensions and alternatives In the foregoing description, embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. Accordingly, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the embodiments. Thus, the sole and exclusive indicator of what is the present invention and what the Applicants intend to be the present invention is the set of claims that derive from this application, which take on a particular form, including any subsequent amendments. The definitions explicitly set forth herein for terms that are included in such claims shall govern the meaning of the terms as used in the claims. Therefore, limitations, elements, characteristics, features, advantages or attributes that are not explicitly recited in the claims should never limit the scope of such claims. Accordingly, the present specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

[0039] In addition, in this specification, a particular process step may be described in a particular order, and alphabetical and alphanumeric symbols can be used to identify the particular step. Unless otherwise specified in this specification, embodiments are not necessarily limited to any particular order in which such steps are performed. In particular, the symbols are merely used for the convenient identification of the steps and are not intended to specify or require a particular order in which such steps are performed.

Claims

1. A load beam; Flexure and A head gimbal assembly (HGA) comprising a suspension assembly comprising: The load beam is a deck section having an edge on each lateral side; side rail portions extending away from each edge of the deck portion in a direction away from the flexure, each side rail portion including a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure; Each limiter structure is a proximal portion extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion of the load beam, the majority of the proximal portion extending substantially perpendicular to the deck portion of the load beam; a hooking portion extending from the proximal portion and extending substantially parallel to the deck portion of the load beam, the hooking portion being disposed distal to the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure away from the load beam.

2. A load beam; Flexure and A head gimbal assembly (HGA) comprising a suspension assembly comprising: The load beam is a deck section having an edge on each lateral side; side rail portions extending away from each edge of the deck portion in a direction away from the flexure, each side rail portion including a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure; Each limiter structure is a proximal portion extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion of the load beam, the proximal portion initially extending from the corresponding side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure within the plane of the side rail portion and an adjacent portion of the proximal portion extending at a laterally outward angle from the plane of the side rail portion; a hooking portion extending from the proximal portion and disposed distally of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure away from the load beam.

3. A load beam; Flexure and A head gimbal assembly (HGA) comprising a suspension assembly comprising: The load beam is a deck section having an edge on each lateral side; side rail portions extending away from each edge of the deck portion in a direction away from the flexure, each side rail portion including a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure; Each limiter structure is a proximal portion extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion of the load beam, the proximal portion initially extending from the corresponding side rail portion in a direction in the plane of the side rail portion along a longitudinal axis of the side rail portion and an adjacent substantially C-shaped section curving outwardly from the plane of the side rail portion; A head gimbal assembly (HGA) including a hooking portion extending from the proximal portion and disposed distally of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure away from the load beam.

4. 4. The HGA according to claim 1, further comprising a limiter gap between the hooking portion of the limiter structure and the flexure, the limiter gap defining an amount of displacement of the flexure that is mechanically permitted in a direction away from the load beam.

5. 4. The HGA according to claim 1, wherein the hooking portion is disposed with respect to the flexure at a position outside a flexure tongue of the flexure configured to attach a head slider.

6. The HGA of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the hooking portion is disposed relative to the flexure at a gimbal support portion of the flexure.

7. The HGA of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a majority of the proximal portion extends at a laterally outward skew angle from the side rail portion of the load beam.

8. A hard disk drive comprising the HGA according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

9. A hard disk drive (HDD), A plurality of recording disk media rotatably mounted on a spindle; a head slider containing a read-write transducer configured to read from and write to the recording disk media of the plurality of recording disk media; means for moving the head slider to access portions of the recording disk medium; a head gimbal assembly (HGA) coupled to the means for moving, Flexure and A load beam to which the flexure is gimbaled, the load beam comprising: a deck section having an edge on each side; a load beam comprising: a side rail portion extending away from each edge of the deck portion in a direction away from the flexure; and a head gimbal assembly (HGA) comprising: a load beam comprising: a side rail portion extending away from each edge of the deck portion in a direction away from the flexure; each side rail portion including a limiter structure extending from the side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure; Each limiter structure is a proximal portion extending directly from the corresponding side rail portion of the load beam, the majority of the proximal portion extending substantially perpendicular to the deck portion of the load beam; a hooking portion extending from the proximal portion and extending substantially parallel to the deck portion of the load beam, the hooking portion being disposed distal to the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure away from the load beam.

10. 10. The HDD of claim 9, wherein the HGA further comprises a limiter gap between the hooking portion of the limiter structure and the flexure, the limiter gap defining an amount of displacement of the flexure that is mechanically permitted in a direction away from the load beam.

11. 10. The HDD according to claim 9, wherein the hooking portion of the limiter structure is disposed, relative to the flexure, at an outer portion of a flexure tongue of the flexure to which the head slider is attached.

12. 10. The HDD of claim 9, wherein a majority of the proximal portion extends at a laterally outward skew angle from the side rail portion of the load beam.

13. the proximal portion initially extends from the corresponding side rail portion in a direction toward the flexure within the plane of the side rail portion; and an adjacent portion of the proximal portion extends at a laterally outward angle from the plane of the side rail portion; The HDD according to claim 9.

14. the proximal portion initially extends from the corresponding siderail portion in a direction within the plane of the siderail portion and along a longitudinal axis of the siderail portion; and 10. The HDD of claim 9, wherein adjacent substantially C-shaped sections curve outwardly from the plane of the side rail portions.

15. 1. A method of manufacturing a head gimbal assembly (HGA), the method comprising: forming a load beam comprising a substantially flat deck having an opening on each side; forming a side rail portion on each side of the deck, each side rail portion including a limiter structure including an arm extension that extends into the opening in the deck; bending each side rail portion to form a side rail extending in a first direction away from the deck such that the limiter structure extends from the opening in a second direction away from the corresponding side rail and away from the deck; coupling a flexure to a second direction side of the load beam, the step including disposing the arm extension on a distal second direction side of the flexure to limit displacement of the flexure in the second direction away from the load beam.

16. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein coupling the flexure to the load beam includes creating a limiter gap between the arm extension of the limiter structure and the distal second direction side of the flexure, the limiter gap defining an amount of available displacement of the flexure from the load beam in the second direction.

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